Chapter 12: Laserbeak
"Knockout." Scrap began after a very long pause had befallen the med bay. "Can I ask you something?"
Taking the chance to get away from paperwork, Knockout nodded and leant back in his seat. "Sure. What is it?"
Sucking on her lip for a moment, she vaguely wondered if she should ask, but her curiosity was growing stronger with each theory she came up with. "Why… why doesn't Soundwave speak? Or take down his armour?"
A long sigh escaped Knockout as he swung on his chair, looking at the girl as she leant against the wall. "Why do you want to know?"
"He's been coming in recently with all sorts of minor injuries, but every time he refuses to take his armour down." She shrugged and looked across the room to one of the tables. "Instead, he just retracts it over where he's hurt. I just think it's strange."
"Well, Soundwave is strange." Knockout responded casually.
"But is there a reason he's strange?" Scrap pressed. "Is it some kind of… religious thing?"
The red haired medic shook his head a little. "No. It's his training."
"Training?"
"The story goes that years before the war even started, Soundwave was sold off to the ancient assassin order under Kaon. It's this really hard to reach place back on Cybertron, and the group lived in the ruins of what is meant to be the first building ever of Cybertron. That just shows how old this order is. Anyway, the people who go there are trained not only in how to kill and disappear, but their training included being ordered to stand straight for hours on end without moving as well as being taught techniques of extracting information from a victim. It takes decades to go through this training."
"That's a long time." Scrap agreed.
Knockout nodded thoughtfully before continuing. "And once that training is complete, they become a servant of the order, and the order would assign them to kill bots that they decided were ready to die."
"How?"
Knockout rolled a shoulder and closed his eyes. "No one knows. It's said that the AllSpark would speak to them and tell them who it wanted."
Intrigued by the story, Scrap moved to sit on the desk. "So… Soundwave is one of these… assassins?"
"Yes."
"But that doesn't explain why he doesn't talk. Or why he keeps his armour up."
Knockout quirked an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't it? Soundwave's armour is his own. In all the time I've known him, he has never changed it. It's the same one from the very beginning of the war."
"So?"
"So, normal armour isn't indestructible. Parts get damaged, bits need to be replaced or repaired. And yet Soundwave's is exactly the same today as it was back then." He pointed at her. "His armour never breaks, never scratches, never buckles… it is perfect. That is because the armour is made of a special material only the assassins of Kaon had knowledge of creating. It's what makes them such dangerous opponents. Not only are they skilled, fast, and deadly, but also undefeatable."
The girl thought for a moment then nodded. "Ok, so that makes sense of the whole armour thing. They don't take it off because it would leave them vulnerable, and it also acts as a mark of his training. That I get. But why doesn't he talk?"
Closing his eyes, Knockout rubbed his goatee. "I heard once that the Kaon assassins were taught to never show emotions and that the voice was a weakness, a threat to the order. So the masters issue masks to hide emotional features from the world as well as disembodying the assassins from the real world. And if a student spoke or made even the slightest sound, they would be punished." Knockout looked at the human and nodded. "The assassins would say 'every word is a spark lost.' It's the mantra of the order."
The shock was evident on Scrap's face. "That's horrid."
"That is what makes Soundwave so deadly. He takes their teachings so to spark that he still doesn't talk."
Scrap blinked, thinking. "So, what happened?"
"Well, the story goes that Lord Megatron went to the assassins and demanded their obedience in his cause. The masters told him… well… 'no', and then he was set on by the others." The medic chuckled. "But, Megatron being Megatron, defeated each and every one of them with ease. Although, half way into the fight, he found himself with an ally."
Scrap smiled lightly, realising who. "Soundwave."
"Yes. Together the pair took down the entire order."
Tilting her head in an inquisitive manner, Scrap asked, "But why did Soundwave turn on his own people?"
"No one knows. But ever since then, he's been at Megatron's side, and he has been there longer than anyone else."
Her smile fell a little as she sat and thought. "That's really sad. That he was treated that way… and that even when he turned on his own people, he still won't speak or take his armour off."
"I never really think about it. And I don't really care."
Part way to scolding the Decepticon medic, the doors of the room open, and Scrap held back a chuckle. "Speak of the devil." She mumbled and went over to Soundwave as he sat on a table. "Well Soundwave, what's wrong today, hmm?"
Soundwave turned his visor to look back at Knockout who was staring at him, frown clear, but then he turned back to the nurse and pointed to his shoulder.
Scrap moved to have a look as he retracted just the shoulder, leaving the arm in place, and showed her a small, shallow cut. Huffing, Scrap stepped back and folded her arms. "Soundwave, that is nothing. It'll heal in a few days without medical attention. Honestly, I have better things to do than look after every little booboo you get. Now stop wasting my time."
Considering she had just learnt he was a deadly assassin from an ancient order, Scrap felt remarkably bold speaking with him like this, but to be honest, she'd grown irritated by his behaviour over the last few weeks.
Her face showed the irritation as it was reflected back at her. "Next time you get a cut, don't be so damn stubborn and let me help you."
The sound of her own voice made Scrap jump a little, but then she remembered and laughed. "Ah, using my own words against me are you? Come on Soundwave, there is a difference between a 'cut' and a 'scratch' and that-" she pointed to his shoulder. "Is a scratch. So, what's really going on?"
Soundwave looked at her for a moment and then moved to look behind them to Knockout who was once more lost in his work. Scrap followed his gaze then shrugged. "Well?"
The communication's officer turned back to her before standing up, holding her hand in his and walking briskly out of the medical bay, dragging her along.
Scrap gasped a little at the action, but there wasn't really much she could do. She was taken completely by surprise by the bold move, and her body just went along with it. Soundwave said nothing, as he never did: He just led her down the hallways to a lift that soon plummeted down.
The human just went along with it, guessing if there was a point to all this, she would find out soon as to where ever he was taking her.
The lift ride went on for at least half a minute, something that struck her as odd as the lifts were so fast: normally anywhere on the ship could be reached in just a few seconds. And when they did stop and the door opened, the hallway was dark, dank, and clearly uncared for.
Soundwave was already walking down the hall but stopped to ensure she followed. With nothing else to do, she did follow, but she followed a step or two behind him. There was no point in talking to him, so she just shrugged and went along with it.
After about three minutes of walking down the empty, abandoned hallways, Soundwave stopped at the edge of a remarkably large door, and Scrap stood right in the middle of hall before it, her eyes locked on the door. "Soundwave… where are we?"
If she didn't know better, she'd think the silent Decepticon was smug as he pressed a control at the edge of the door. The two sides of the door snapped open all of a sudden and revealed a large well lit room inside.
Scrap's eyes widened. In the middle of the room was a large, strange metal craft, four long wings stretching out from a rounded cockpit, with a design so sleek and elegant beyond anything Scrap had seen, and Breakdown had taken to teaching her about the various transforming vehicles Cybertronians used.
This was something entirely new. She stepped out of the hall and into the room, looking over the impressive craft. The metal was dark grey and matte colour, but as Scrap walked further into the ship and inspected it more closely, she realised it wasn't finished. One of the wings was half missing, and the central area was nothing more than a frame that showed the wires and engine underneath.
So entranced was she by the strange metal craft, that Scrap almost completely forgot about Soundwave until her peripheral vision picked up movement, and she turned to see that Soundwave was standing next to a low table covered with data pads and models of different parts of the craft.
Going over to him, Soundwave turned a pad to face her, and Scrap peered over to look. "Laserbeak?" She read from the English at the top, looking up to face the silent man's visor. "Did you… design this? And make it?"
Soundwave nodded. He then picked up the pad and tapped away at it before passing it back.
Now it seemed to have zoomed in on one area of the craft, stuck in the middle of it. While most of it was white lines on a black background, there was one line in the middle that pulsing purple. Scrap frowned, looking at the one line and then zoomed in on it. The line appeared unconnected.
She looked up suddenly. "There's a wire loose?" She guessed. "Is that why you brought me here?"
Soundwave took a step then took hold of her hand, placing it palm to palm with his. The message was quiet clear as she looked at the size difference between the pair.
"My hands are smaller." She stated, looking up at the mask. "And you can't reach the wire… can you?"
Soundwave didn't move, but his fingers did slightly close around hers.
The woman smiled then let go of him, looking over to the designs and the broken wire. "Alright, I think I can do this… I fixed a plug once. This can't be much harder."
She sighed then turned away from him, going to Laserbeak with the pad, using it to work out where the problem was then knelt and lay on her back under the craft's belly. "Right then… come on… umm…" She stared blindly at the mess before her and felt herself bit her lips. "Soundwave! What am I looking for?"
There was a small scuffling sound above her then beside her as a form shuffled under the belly with her, lying on his back beside her and pointing up between a narrow gap of wires and cogs. Moving to be right under the gap, Scrap narrowed her eyes and looked up. "Oh yes… I see it!" Careful of the sharp metal around the hole, she reached up and grabbed the loose wire, managing to twist and stick it back into place. "There!" She said triumphant. "That should hold it."
She turned her head to the side, looking at Soundwave. "You know, this would have been much easier if you had just told me what was wrong."
Stuck on his back like a turtle, Soundwave could only turn his head to look at her. The human blinked then felt a little uncomfortable, stuck on her back with him staring at her. "Well… if that's all you need, I'm gonna head back to medical." Carefully she wiggled her way free of the ship and stood up, brushing her trousers down while Soundwave stood as well.
She gave a cheeky little grin to him. "I'm guessing the reason you're down here is because this is a secret, right?"
The mask dipped downwards then up again.
The human laughed again. "Well, don't worry; I'll keep it a secret."
Just then, the small black watch on her arm bleeped, and she rolled her eyes. "Yes, Knockout?"
"Where the slag did you go?"
"Knockout, it's quiet at the moment. You didn't need me there." She smirked at Soundwave. "I just went for a walk, that's all."
Next Week: A party for some new arrivals turns on its head when Scrap reveals her own power.
A/N: Oh? Not the 'secret revealed' you were expecting. Well, a lot of people have been asking 'where Laserbeak is' and if he would make an appearance. Well, now you know! And next week, scary to think, December 1st! Yikes!
Well, don't forget to review and stay tuned for next week! Love you all!
